Cosmetic... serving an esthetic rather than a useful purpose.    

A surfboards useful purpose is for catching and riding waves. Most of the performance short boards we see are fabricated  just for that useful purpose. No color, not shiny, just the basics.

Many other surfboards go beyond the basics. With color and shiny finishes, sometimes with colorful fins, special wood combinations for stringers, pin lines or striping. Long boards could have nose and tail blocks. All this stuff can and does make a surfboard look nice. But in reality it's all cosmetic.

Cosmetics are used to make things look beautiful. For the surfer a well shaped surfboard is a thing of beauty. A well shaped surfboard doesn't need cosmetics because it looks good with out make up.

 But you know what? There isn't anything wrong with taking a well shaped surfboard and dressing it in it's Sunday best. Sometimes you can have a hard time waxing  a new surfboard dressed in it's Sunday best, have second thoughts about getting it wet.

Yeah, and then over time the Sunday best starts to look a little rough or tattered. No more pretty shine, some patches here and there, dirty wax. It once looked really good... but the cool thing is it still rides really good.

   

It's OK because what's under the cosmetics is a well shaped surfboard. And all the rough and tattered part... it's called character. The well shaped surfboard with character has a story to tell.

D.R.

Have you ever had a magic board?

The magic board. The one that works for you so well it seems you can do no wrong when you surf it. You never have a bad session when you surf it. And, it seems to allow you to make waves you normally might not, do maneuvers you normally can't pull and generally make you the total fantasy surfer.  I think if you've got one or have had one you're lucky.

What would be nice is to know how to make a magic board.

I've made plenty of magic boards, typically though, the board wasn't magic until it had been ridden, it might not have been magic until it had been ridden  several times. Funny thing is, it wasn't something I set out to do and I never knew it was magic until some time after it was in the hands of it's owner.

Yes, I always strive to make the very best surfboard I possibly can and hope the board rides like no other. But, I don't know anyone that can set out to make a magic board and have the board they make be magic.

As well, The magic board you might have is impossible to duplicate. Sure, you can do a digital scan and replicate your magic board in every detail. Then go surf your magic replica and find it just doesn't surf quite the same as the magic original. Why is that?

Why is one board magic and the other one not magic? How come some people get a magic board and others don't? When will you get another magic board? Or when will you get your first magic board?

I can't answer any of those questions. But I can answer this question.... What makes a board magic?

Answer.... Magic.

D.R.

A 7'6 Gadget... kind of rhymes with magic.